adopting my first battery hen!

[stumble_n_mumble]

hey guys, im adopting my first battery hen! what can i expect, i have not seen her yet! i know her beaks been cut! should she definitely be separated from the rest of the flock or can i just introduce her?

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

She need to be quarenteened for 3-4 weeks before introducing her to the flock, she could be carrying all sorts of germs coming from a place like that.

 

[oesdog]

Keep her seperated. Not only can she have all sorts of germs and infection but also you need to see her and what she is like too! She may be very vicious as some of those birds have had to learn to defend themselves pretty well, or she could be totally the opposite and be very quiet and submisive due to being picked on. You may find she could have few feathers and it will take her a while to grow them out again. If she is weak then she may find it hard to fit into a healthy flock and be left bottom of the pecking order. She has had a bad enough time without being picked on by your flock too. Wait for a few weeks, get to know her, feed her up and spoil her and then when your confident she has no infection and is strong enough do small supervised visits. Introduce her slowely to your girls. Maybe get one of your very quiet hens to keep her company at first - in a few weeks though!!!! Be careful of diseases. If she is feisty chose a stronger charactor hen to befriend her. Supervised at first though.

Oesdog - good for you!

 

[LauraG]

Yay! Good for you!! Are you just getting one?

Maybe you can get more than one so shes not lonely during quarantine, she'll have some other buddies to go through the experience with her...chicken math...

 

[stumble_n_mumble]

weelll! what happened was i do wildlife rescue on all of long island so... my number is EVERYWHERE! i have a soft spot for ducks, chickens, farm critters

so then i got this call, she said that she lives near a local farm and a chicken is in her apartment complex wondering all by herself, she has been feeding it for a while now and got her nice and "plump" as she put it, she said she was missing tons of feathers and her beak is CUT. so... i figure she had a quarantine period already and should be good, i will watch her for the first day and see if shes acting weird, what should i be watching for?

 

[Mrs. K]

I am not a huge stickler to a quarantine rules, and have broken them many a time, BUT I think you might really be risking your whole flock here.

I would be worming her, and powdering her for mites, I might put one of my less favorite hens with her, so she is not lonely, but really adding an unknown is a BIG risk.

Mrs.K

 

[oesdog]

Don;t take a chance - seperate her please your own girls deserve this care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oesdog.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
Yes, even though she was at the other persons place you should quarenteen her

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If she is coming straight out of a battery cage then chances are she's got really long toenails that may need trimming. She's not going to be used to scratching or running around doing normal chicken things. Putting her straight into an established flock could be pretty traumatic for her. Keep her separated and give her a chance to learn what it is to be a non-battery cage chicken. Plus all the usual quarantine and bio-security precautions.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I would start by giving her a nice warm bath! Imagine, she will think she is in a spa

But seriously, you should quarantine her and observe her behavior and things before you put her in with the others.
Your friend may be feeding her, but does she know about parasites and worms and all those lovely things our birds can pick up regularly? I would take caution and make her a healthy bird on her own, then incorporate her into the flock after you give her some time.